1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a vehicle having a structure for assembling or fitting a suspension to a vehicle body by means of a plurality of brackets.
2. Description of Related Art
Typically, in order to increase not only the facility for assembling or fitting front suspension devices, such as the strut type of suspension devices and the double wishbone type of suspension devices, to an automotive vehicle but also the structural stiffness and rigidity of such suspension devices, the right and left suspension devices are interconnected by means of a suspension cross member, extending in the transverse direction of the vehicle body and ordinarily formed at each end with an upwardly extending bracket by means of which the suspension cross member is secured to a side frame member of a front frame. Such a suspension device assembling structure is known from, for instance, Japanese Unexamined Utility Model Publication No. 62-02402.
For four-wheel drive vehicles, because the suspension cross member is also used to mount various vehicle elements, such as a steering unit and a front differential, thereon, it is bolted, or otherwise secured, to downwardly extending brackets of the side frame members of the front frame through the upwardly extending brackets thereof. Otherwise, right and left suspension arms of the front suspension device is partly fitted in opposite ends of a hollow or channel shaped suspension cross member and pivoted by pivot shafts secured or mounted to the suspension cross member via rubber bushes.
Specifically, the suspension cross member adapted to support a suspension device, such as of a strut-type and of a double-wishbone type having A-type suspension arms, each of which has a front arm portion and a rear arm portion, is formed with support means on opposite ends. Each support means extends in a lengthwise direction of the vehicle body and supports the front and rear arm portions on the lengthwise ends for pivotal movement. One of the front and rear suspension arms, which extends roughly in a transverse direction of the vehicle body, is placed nearly in alignment with the cross member in the transverse direction. Such a placement of the suspension arm is intended to efficiently absorb external force to the suspension arm by the cross member. In this instance, there are provided a plurality of brackets for supporting the suspension cross member and the suspension arm.
Such a pivot shaft for pivoting the suspension arm suffers great force through the suspension device and, consequently, the suspension cross member must be provided with a sufficiently strong reinforcement structure around the pivot shaft. However, such a reinforcement structure needs a number of extra parts and increases the weigh of a vehicle body.
Moreover, in order to efficiently absorb energy during a front-end collision, the front body is designed and adapted to crush gradually from the front to the back and to prevent its own crush from developing to a dash panel. However, by reason of energy distribution, a forward bracket tends to make the front body absorb less energy, and a backward bracket tends to be insufficient in rigidity. In such a case, since the dash panel is possibly deformed by the crushed front body, it must be provided with a reinforcing structure which is unavoidably bulky.